Chapter 3

On my day off, I spent most of the time asleep, drifting in and out of a heavy, exhausted haze.

By early evening, a shrill ringtone jolted me awake.

It was the hospital calling.

"Is this Ms. Emily Lane? Your mother has gone into acute heart failure. She's in resuscitation now. You need to come immediately." The nurse sounded breathless, on the verge of panic.

For a split second, everything in my head went completely blank.

I stumbled out of bed, dragged on the first clothes I could find, and rushed out the door without thinking.

My hands were shaking so badly I could barely book a ride as I ran, my vision blurring with tears.

"Please, Mom. Just hold on. Please don't leave me," I prayed in my mind.

By the time I arrived at the hospital, the red light above the emergency room was still glowing.

I sank onto a bench in the hallway, my body limp, as if every ounce of strength had been drained out of me.

Time crawled forward, each passing second stretching unbearably long, until it felt less like minutes and more like entire lifetimes slipping by.

At last, the doors to the emergency room swung open.

The doctor Mark Williams stepped out, exhaustion written all over his face.

I rushed to him and grabbed his arm, my voice shaking. "Dr. Williams, how's my mom? Is she going to be okay?"

He pulled off his mask and let out a weary sigh. "She's stable for now. We managed to pull her through this round. But Ms. Lane's heart function is severely compromised, and this episode was triggered by complications. If we don't find a suitable kidney donor soon for a transplant..."

His voice trailed off, leaving the rest unsaid.

A heavy dread settled in my chest. "A transplant... how much are we talking about?"

He replied, "With the surgery and the long-term anti-rejection medication, you're looking at at least 160 thousand dollars."

The number hit me like a crushing weight, pressing down so hard I could barely breathe.

Cold crept through my body, and my vision blurred at the edges. Where on earth was I supposed to come up with that kind of money?

Noticing how pale I'd gone, Mark softened his voice. "Try not to panic. We'll put her on the hospital's donor registry and see what we can find, but I won't lie. The chances are slim. You should also start exploring other options."

Numb and unsteady, I made my way to the billing counter. As I stared at the long list of charges on the statement, a deep sense of helplessness washed over me.

The cost of the emergency treatment alone had already wiped out every bit of money I had managed to scrape together.

What was I supposed to do now?

I sat on a cold bench in the hospital, and for the first time, I felt completely cornered.

I pulled out my phone and scrolled through my contacts, but there wasn't a single person I could bring myself to call for money.

My relatives had long since distanced themselves, worn down by the endless burden my family had become.

My friends weren't in any better shape. Everyone had their own problems to deal with. Sophie had already done more for me than I could ever repay. I couldn't ask her for anything more.

Was I really about to cross that line?

Before I knew it, my eyes had settled on a number I hadn't dialed in a very long time.

It was Alex.

My finger hovered over the call button, hesitating.

Pride and reality battled it out in my head.

Ask him for help? The same man who had humiliated me with money just last night?

I could already picture the look in his eyes, cold and mocking, and the sharp edge in his voice as he cut me down.

And yet, when it came to my mother's life, what was my pride worth?

My hand trembled as I finally pressed the call button.

The phone rang for a long time before he finally picked up.

"Hello?" The voice was as familiar as ever, and just as cold.

I gripped the phone tightly, my throat locked, the words refusing to come out.

"Who is this?" There was a faint edge of impatience now.

I took a deep breath and used all my strength just to produce a faint voice. "It's me... Emily."

Silence followed. On his end, I could hear the soft rustle of papers, as if he were in the middle of something.

"What do you need?" he asked at last, his tone distant, as though he were speaking to a stranger.

The indifference stung more than I expected.

I closed my eyes and swallowed my pride. "Alex... could I... borrow some money from you?"

The words had barely left my mouth before I wanted to bite my tongue off.

Another silence followed on the other end of the line, so long that I began to wonder if he had already hung up.

Just as I was starting to lose hope, he finally spoke.

A soft, cold chuckle came through the line, but it cut through me like a blade. "Emily, so you've finally come crawling to me for money?"